Indian rightist political group blasts MTV show for eroding morality

(Photo: REUTERS / Raj Patidar)Volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India's Hindu nationalist organization, hold bamboo sticks as they take part in a drill during a training camp in the central Indian city of Bhopal June 7, 2014.

A right-wing Hindu group is demanding a ban on MTV's Splitsvilla, a popular reality TV show in India, claiming it is eroding morality and perpetuating a Western mindset that has no place in Indian culture.

It said Indian society is currently plagued with problems of rape and sexual harassment of women.

The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) said a statement on September 1 that that there must be censorship for TV shows as "everything goes on air without proper checks and edits," The Hindu reported

MTV Splitsvilla is a spinoff of the American dating reality show "Flavor of Love," which hit U.S. airwaves in February 2008.

In the Indian version, young boys and girls try to secure a place in a villa by competing and mingling with other contestants to find love.

The show culminates in a boy and girl being crowned the winners of Splitsvilla.

The report quoted the group's national spokesperson Ramesh Shinde as saying that the show, which is in its seventh season, ran into many controversies such accusations of racial slurs and sexual exploitation.

Shinde was particularly commenting on the views on freedom expressed by one of the participants, Goan model Scarlett Rose.

"Her concept of freedom is to be allowed to wear short skirs, strap dress and bikinis. This mindset is Western and has no place in our Indian culture and society," Ucan India quoted Shinde as saying.

"This is a social and a national issue which needs to be taken seriously and tackled. Our country is plagued with the problems of rape and sexual harassment of women and such programs add fuel to fire," said Shinde.

The same group last month launched protests against the film "Singham Returns," forcing promoters of the movie to exclude certain scenes that supposedly belittled Hindu deities, reported Ucan India.